Rosenthal — The Malibu Estate
The vines grow at 1,400 feet in a Santa Monica Mountains canyon; the tasting happens down on the Pacific Coast Highway, just off the beach. Few wineries anywhere split the difference so gracefully.
Malibu means surf before it means Syrah, which is exactly what makes Rosenthal worth the drive. The estate planted Malibu’s first vineyard in 1987, up Newton Canyon where 250 acres of ranch land sit four miles from the ocean — far enough up to ripen fruit, close enough that the marine air never quite lets go. The federal government eventually agreed the place was its own thing: the canyon carries a one-winery appellation, the Malibu–Newton Canyon AVA. A Temecula visitor will recognize the recipe at once — elevation, ocean air, sun — run at a different angle, with the Pacific playing the Rainbow Gap’s part.
The genius of the arrangement is geographic: the vineyard stays up in the canyon, and the pouring happens at the tasting room on the Pacific Coast Highway, where the patio trades vine rows for ocean across the road, with music on the weekends and no dress code beyond sand tolerance. It is the rare estate wine you can taste to the sound of the thing that cools it.
What to expect
| Go for | Malibu’s first vineyard in the glass, the Pacific across the highway |
|---|---|
| The estate | 250 canyon acres at 1,400 feet, four miles from the ocean — with its own one-winery AVA, Malibu–Newton Canyon; vines since 1987 |
| The room | On the Pacific Coast Highway just off the beach — patio pours, ocean air, music on weekends |
| From the valley | The coast day — a couple of hours west of Temecula, traffic willing; pair it with the drive up PCH |
Featured videos
The estate, the canyon, and the Malibu coast on film — press play before you commit to the drive.
More beyond the valley
Every entry here had to be worth leaving Temecula for — and worth the drive back.